The present invention relates to a method for the handling of graphics in the provision of an Internet or other network-based service to an end-user, in particular to an end-user of consumer electronics equipment, and to apparatus configured to support the method.
As is well recognised, there is a continued rapid growth in Internet usage, and accompanying this there is an increase in the number of consumer electronics devices other than personal computers (PC""s) featuring connectivity to the World Wide Web. Web-TV of Philips Magnavox is an example of a device that provides the user with an exciting synergy between the conventional TV on the one hand and the Internet on the other. The Philips Magnavox WebTV Plus Receiver offers a WebPIP (picture in picture) feature. Users can watch a television program simultaneously while maintaining a connection to the Web, even if their television set does not have PIP capability. This enables, for example, watching a TV show and being able to retrieve your E-mail at the same time without ever having to leave the living room couch.
Although the enhanced functionality of devices such as the Web TV provides added value to the consumer, it will be recognised that the devices do not in general have the same data processing capabilities nor data supply bandwidth as, for example, that of a powerful PC, and some applications can greatly slow the operation of the device. Caching of data when browsing the Web is one known technique used in order to reduce delays during navigation. It works by the short-term storage of data that has already been downloaded, commonly until the available storage is getting full. Then, if the user revisits a page or another page that reuses the same data, it can be presented almost immediately. This provides a saving in both time and bandwidth. In an Internet application, the downloading of graphics data (herein used to refer to all visible assets on an Internet page other than HTML text) can be a serious cause of delays, with the contrast in speed when these assets can be loaded from cache as against downloading via the network highlighting the need for improved efficiency in the delivery process.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a means whereby delays in presentation of graphics to a user are reduced, without requiring excessive data transmission bandwidth.
In accordance with the present invention there is provided a network communications system comprising a plurality of user stations and a plurality of service provider host systems coupled via a data network, wherein each user station comprises respective processing and display means configured to access, process and display pages of data from a selected one of said host provider systems, including storage means into which a data page may be downloaded via the network whilst display of data from another page is underway, characterised in that one or more of said service provider host systems provides all graphics attributes of a predetermined collection of pages within a single dummy page, with a user station configured to download said dummy page to said storage means whilst display of data from a first of said collection of pages takes place. By downloading all the graphics assets for a group of pages in one single page, whilst another page is being presented to the user, the perceived improvement in loading times for subsequent graphics to the user is noticeable, since these assets have already been loaded to the local page memory or cache.
In such a network communications system, a service provider host system may include in the said first page of a predetermined collection the network storage address from which the respective dummy page may be accessed by the user station. Also, the service provider host systems may suitably determine a most likely order for user requirement of the dummy page graphics assets and arrange them accordingly with the assets most likely to be required being downloaded at the head of the dummy page: with this arrangement, even if the background downloading of the dummy page is still ongoing, there is an improved chance that the required assets will already have been downloaded to storage. Alternatively, the service provider host systems may arrange the dummy page graphics assets in order of size, with the largest being downloaded at the head of the dummy page.
Also in accordance with the present invention there is provided a data network browser configured as a user station for use in the network communications system described above, said browser comprising a data processor coupled with a network interface, data page store, and an output for driving a display, the browser being arranged to check data accompanying a received page for display to identify whether a network address for the said dummy page is present and, if so, to load the said dummy page via the network into the said data page store. In such a browser, the data processor may be configured to check always for the presence of required graphics assets in the said data page store prior to calling for them via the network.
Further in accordance with the present invention there is provided a network server for use as the said first service provider host system in a network communications system as recited above, the server comprising a first storage means maintaining a plurality of pages of data accessible by remote user, further storage means holding as a single dummy data page all the graphics assets required in display of the said plurality of pages of data, the server being configured to include in the first of the said plurality of pages of data downloaded to a user an access address for the said dummy page